1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of toothbrushes, particularly typical toothbrushes where the user applies oscillating, linear, circular and other motions along with varying amounts of axial pressure of the bristles on the tooth and gum surfaces.
2. Background of the Invention
It is well accepted that regular brushing of the teeth along with flossing, dental examinations, and other appropriate care is essential to maintain healthy teeth and gums or to at least to minimize deterioration. In this regard hundreds of millions of toothbrushes are used regularly throughout the world.
A variety of new toothbrush designs have been periodically introduced into the oral care market with new features that improve performance or ergonomics. Some of the many new designs included different angles of the head and/or the bristles, different tuft designs, varying hardness and stiffness of the bristles, and even wear markers either on the handle or in the bristles to indicate fatigued bristles and to signal the time to replace the toothbrush. Also, in recent years mechanized toothbrushes have been introduced which move bristles in various circular or transverse motion patterns, and also axially at extremely high speeds.
Many of these toothbrushes represented significant advances. However, one particular issue or problem persists and has led to proposed solutions which run the gamut of extremes. This is the issue of how stiff and/or hard the bristles should be to adequately clean the teeth without damaging the enamel surface of the teeth.
About twenty-five years ago hard or stiff bristles were preferred, because soft and medium bristles were considered too weak to achieve adequate cleaning. Makers of brushes with natural bristles proclaimed their products safer and superior to nylon and other plastic bristles. More recently, soft bristles have been generally considered by dentists as the only safe bristles to use to avoid both enamel and gum damage.
The debate remains unresolved as to which of the above toothbrushes is best; however, a vast number of people continue to suffer from worn enamel and/or bleeding or sore gums because of the toothbrushes or brushing techniques they use. Thus, none of these dental developments has adequately solved the above discussed problems of damaged enamel and gums caused by the toothbrushes or brushing techniques.